Can Chocolate & Alcohol Trigger Asthma Symptoms?

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Kayti Brosnan. I'm a Registered Nurse here in Austin, Texas and today's question is about chocolate and alcohol and if this can trigger an asthma symptom. Chocolate and asthma by themselves are not actually causing an asthma symptom but there is a secondary response that happens when two things happen one, the stomach produces more acid and this what occurs is called acid reflux. At the same time chocolate and alcohol are more likely to relax the sphincter or the muscle that it is at the top of the esophagus that is keeping the pressure in the stomach so it relaxes it and then it is also causing more stomach to be produced in your stomach. This in turn irritates your airway because your esophagus and your airway are right next to each other. So it is irritating that and then that triggers the asthma symptoms or the asthma exacerbation. So it is not actually the alcohol and the chocolate but it is what that is doing to your body."